The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that workers lock out the power supplied to equipment while it is maintained and repaired, or in some instances, lock out fluid lines, such as air lines and hydraulic lines. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,259 proposes a safety lockout adapter that includes a pair of pivotally connected members each having a shank portion and a hook portion that flush together in overlying relation to each other. The hooks are adapted for extending through a hole of a disconnect handle of a power switch, or fluid line such as an air line or hydraulic line, for locking out the equipment in question. Each shank portion includes a plurality of holes that are aligned in registry to each other when the two shanks are flushed together. Padlocks are placed through aligned holes, allowing each worker maintaining and repairing the equipment to lock-out the equipment. Only when all workers have removed their personal pad locks, can one activate the power to the equipment.
This proposed safety lockout adapter can be manipulated in one hand and secured to a power box usually with little difficulty. However, in some instances, the proposed prior art lockout adapter may be difficult to use. For example, if a large object is positioned adjacent the power box or the fluid line, the user may have difficulty reaching around the object and connecting the proposed prior art safety lockout adapter to the disconnect handle.
A two member safety lockout adapter requiring a user to use both hands and reach around the object to couple the members together would be preferred in these circumstances. Additionally, some safety regulators have expressed a preference for a two member safety lockout adapter requiring a user to use both hands when coupling a lockout adapter to a disconnect handle of a power box, or onto a fluid line. With a two member lockout adapter requiring use of two hands, a user would not be free to use one hand for other chores or repairs while locking out.
The other prior art proposals also are limited in the number of padlocks that can be placed onto the adapter. In some jobs, many workers are repairing a large item or working in a closely confined area. In those instances, each worker must lock out on the adapter by placing a padlock through a hole. If all holes are used, some workers may not have locked out. As a result, a worker may be left working on the equipment after the last padlock has been removed from the lockout adapter. The power may be activated with a worker still maintaining or repairing the equipment, possibly resulting in injury to the worker.
Additionally, because workers who need safety lockout adapters typically travel into areas where items such as the adapters can be lost or misplaced, it is desirable to provide an inexpensive safety lockout adapter formed as two members that are readily interchangeable in case one of the members are lost and must be substituted.